Mumbai: Is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) considering the downgrading of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from Grade A+ to Grade B, reducing their status and annual earnings significantly?
There is reportedly a move for a massive overhaul of the annual central contract structure that includes the discontinuation of the elite Grade A+ category. According to sources cited by ANI, should this new framework receive board approval, senior icons like Kohli and Sharma are expected to be moved down to Grade B.
The recommendation for this structural shift comes from the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar, as reported by Zee News. A definitive decision is anticipated following the upcoming apex council meeting, where BCCI will establish the specific financial details of the revised plan.
Currently, the BCCI utilizes a four-tier system for annual retainers:
Grade A+: INR 7 crore per year
Grade A: INR 5 crore per year
Grade B: INR 3 crore per year
Grade C: INR 1 crore per year
It has been proposed to eliminate the A+ bracket entirely, leaving only Grades A, B, and C. In the 2024-25 contract list released in April 2025, the Grade A+ tier was occupied by Kohli, Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Kohli and Sharma may face the axe and move to Grade B as they are now exclusively focused on the One Day International (ODI) format.
Those in the Grade A list include Mohammed Siraj, K L Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, and Rishabh Pant, while Grade B has T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shreyas Iyer.
Grade C has Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prashidh Krishna, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Harshit Rana.
According to reports, the finalization of this reshuffle depends on the BCCI’s willingness to adopt the committee’s advice and how they choose to distribute funds across the three surviving grades. As the central contract list undergoes an annual review, the upcoming cycle is poised to introduce the most substantial changes since the introduction of the Grade A+ tier.